distant dreams
by TLea
Summary: Wendy Darling was your average teenager. Then, one day, strange things start happening, and she receives a visit from a lanky teen asking her to save Neverland. How much more cliche could you get, she thought? [Saving Neverland Rewrite]
1. Prologue

**Several years ago I wrote a story called Saving Neverland. I really liked the premise of the story, but because I was 13ish when I first wrote it, it's very much a mess. So, I have decided to rewrite it into a bigger and better story. I chose to leave up the old version in case anyone what's to see it for whatever the reason. I hope you guys like this.**

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_PROLOGUE_

When it had finally sunk into Natalie Darling's brain that she was marrying her best friend who just happened to have the last name Darling, she couldn't help but jump at the clear opportunity to name her possible daughter Wendy Darling. She grew up practically living in fairytales, and she made her own mother read the story of Peter Pan countless times to her. So, when she was finally pregnant, she wished and wished that she would get a daughter. She never told people, of course, because you're supposed to be happy with a girl or a boy, but oh how she wanted a baby girl, her very own Wendy Darling.

Then she found out it was a girl, and it was practically heaven after that. The moment the nurse announced it was a girl during the ultrasound, Natalie was quick to squeal in delight, "Little Wendy Darling," and the nurse had stared at her for a moment before smiling cheekily.

"As in Peter Pan?" She had asked.

"Exactly."

Time past and Wendy Meredith Darling was born on a warm day in August a month before her due date, putting her parents trip to sunny Florida on hold. Not that her parents cared too much, but they did like to tease her about it, sometimes. When Wendy's mother, Natalie, got to finally hold her own daughter named Wendy Darling, she was ecstatic. It had been what she had been dreaming of for ages, and there she was, finally getting to hold her precious baby Wendy.

Wendy was brought home, and placed in her nursery that her mother had spent months on. The walls sparkled blue, Big Ben was placed behind her crib, and white painted stars and sparkling lights twinkled from the ceiling and in every corner of the walls. Next to a rocking chair was a tinker bell lamp, and a hand painted sign that read 'Neverland'. If her name was Wendy Darling, then she had to have the matching room to go with it!

The one thing that broke Natalie's heart is when she plays Peter Pan on the T.V in the family room, and at three years old, Wendy has already decided, "I don't like this movie, mommy." She doesn't push it, because if she leaves the movie playing, Wendy will only scream in protest, and besides, it didn't really matter if she didn't like the movie. She liked the story better,—Natalie wasn't even sure if she understood that they were the same thing— but as long as her daughter fell in love with one of them, that's all that mattered. Plus, it helped a little bit when her husband said, "Maybe she'll change her mind about the movie in a year."

By the time Wendy is five, she has changed her mind. Natalie finds her one morning, sitting in her pink fuzzy pajamas and white fluffy socks, sprawled out on the floor, entranced by the T.V playing Peter Pan.

"Look, Mommy," She had said, smiling wide. "Daddy put on Peter Pan."

Natalie had let a small smile form and she settled down onto the floor next to her daughter. This was the first time Wendy had ever seen the movie all the way through, so Natalie just had to be there to witness it. When the movie is over, Wendy talks about the movie and how it was a lot like the book she always read to her at night.

By the time Wendy is seven, Natalie is tired of Peter Pan. She never thought she would say it, but she was immensely tired. She was tired of the Peter Pan intro playing every single time she got home from work, and she was tired of listening to the little giggles she or Wendy got when any new acquaintance heard her name. Wendy, however, seemed to be the opposite. Wendy was in love with Peter, and the fact that she is Wendy— and God, how many times had she gotten in a fight at school over the fact that she is too Wendy Darling and knew Peter Pan, Natalie had lost count— and all the time it was just Peter Peter Peter.

However, no matter how tired she was of Peter Pan, she couldn't deny the fact that she was happy her daughter finally fell in love with the fairytale she had loved herself as a child. Besides, she knew the phase wouldn't last, so she had to enjoy it while she could. Her Wendy Darling wouldn't be hers' forever, so she never missed the chance to cherish her, or all the silly, or annoying, things she did.

When Wendy turns eight, she gets an imaginary friend and names him Peter Pan. It comes out of nowhere, when they're having dinner, and her dad goes to sit and she yells, "No! You'll sit on Peter!" Her dad had thought that she had been joking, of course. So he had laughed it off, proceeded to sit, and then was met with a loud, ear piercing scream.

She brings Peter along with her everywhere; to the grocery store, to the park, to the pool. She even makes sure he has his own place mat and chair at the dinner table. Natalie can hear her whispering things to him at night, and she'll run down the hallway in the morning, claiming her and Peter are playing chase. Wendy's father, Jack, says he's worried, "She's eight. Shouldn't she be out of this phase?" He repeats the phrase several times a week, and Natalie doesn't have the same opinion he does.

"It's cute. It's harmless. Let her be a kid while she still can," Was always her response. It doesn't make him feel better.

On March 19th —she remembers the date clearly— she wishes she had done something about Wendy's imaginary friend. It's nearly time for bed, and Natalie is doing her daily night routine, on her way to make sure Wendy has changed into her pajamas. She creaks Wendy's bedroom door open slowly, stepping in as she peers around the room. It doesn't take her long to spot that Wendy's window is wide open, and there, sticking half way out—feet and torso out the window, and head and hands still wavering inside her room— is Wendy. Natalie is frozen for a half second before she watches as Wendy's fingers slowly start to let go of the window frame, a movement that would allow for Wendy's body to go falling nearly three stories below. It's when she watches her fingers move that she springs into action.

Natalie leaps forward, screaming, "Wendy!" Her hands latch themselves onto Wendy's shoulders and she is lugging Wendy back into her room. Natalie is in hysterics, trying to refrain from crying as she looks at the shocked face of Wendy.

"What were you doing, Wendy! You could've killed yourself!" Her voice cracked, and she shook Wendy violently. How could she be so stupid?

"I was just going to fly with Peter!" Wendy shouted, folding her arms against her chest. She didn't understand why her mom was so upset.

Natalie blanches at that, squeezing Wendy's arms even tighter. This had gone too far.

"Peter is not real, you hear me? You tell him to go away this instant. I don't want to hear you talk about him ever again. Do you understand?"

"He is too real!" Wendy stomped her foot down dramatically.

"He is not Wendy! He is just something your imagination made up because I filled your brain with his stories. You need real friends, Wendy. Peter, he is not real. You can't just go jumping out of windows, that will kill you, Wendy. Do you understand? There is no such things as magic, or fairies and pixie dust, and there is no real Peter Pan! If you jump out that window, you will not fly. You will die. He is not real, and I'm sorry I convinced you otherwise. But I love you, and I don't want to lose you. So you need to grow up and stop all talk of Peter."

Wendy had stormed away, crying. It pained Natalie to watch her go, but it would've been even more painful to watch her daughter fall to her death. She shouldn't have filled Wendy's head with the nonsense stories, anyways. It was her fault.

That night Natalie takes Wendy's Peter doll and throws it in the trash. She takes every copy of the movie and book that they own and stores it far away in a box in the attic that she knows will be forgotten about in a month. She doesn't want to be reminded about the incident ever again.

That day started both Natalie and Wendy's hate for Peter Pan. If they got jokes, they'd both only be reminded of that day, and it was not a great one to remember. Natalie learned to ignore it over the years, but Wendy only became angrier as time went on. When her cousin, Bradley, had said something along the lines of, "Why can't you eat out with us? Is it because you have to go somewhere with Peter?" She had full on slugged him. She hated Peter Pan. She hated everything about it, she hated her name, and she hated her mom for trying to make her life a storybook.

It sounds ridiculous to hate something as innocent as Peter Pan. However, when you have clear memories of a boy telling you wonderful stories and asking you to fly out the window with him, only to have your mother explain that you would not fly, but actually fall to your death, it changes your prospective. It was like his intent was to kill her, and Wendy realizes that as she gets older. The boy hadn't been there to save her. He'd come to lure her to an immediate death. It was scary, that even as she got older, she could still remember him, clear as day. It seemed as if he had been a real person. When she reaches age 14, Natalie is not sure how she did it, but Wendy managed to block out all memory of those few months when she was 8 and going on adventures with Peter Pan.

Since the memories are lost deep inside her, Wendy slowly forgets why she hates Peter Pan, or why she hates every snide comment made towards her that is remotely close to the stupid fairytale. But she does hate him, and really, that's all that matters.

And oh, Wendy's not crazy, she's not.

Natalie recites this every night, and somehow the words don't make her feel any better.


	2. People are gay, Michelle

The sun glared through the white curtains and made the purple walls of Wendy's bedroom appear almost white instead of the dark hue that they were. Noise sounded below, marking the first day of summer.

Wendy slowly opened her eyes as she was awoken by the chatter of people below her bedroom. She pressed her pillow to her ears, muffling the noise slightly. However, the muffled sound was only more annoying and did not aid her in falling back to sleep. The pillow was then thrown angrily across her room, hitting and sliding down her door. She propped her head up on her hand and took a quick glance at the small alarm clock beside her. The time read 9:43 am. She sighed as she fell back onto her blue duvet cover; wanting to sink into her bed for eternity.

It's the first day of summer, I can go back to bed. She thought to herself happily before quickly remembering that the first day of summer was also a family reunion. How could she forget arguing about it with her mom for days?

"Mom it is literally the first day of summer. You cannot possibly plan a freaking reunion on the first day of summer." Wendy had ranted at her mom as she frantically searched the calendar for any other possible dates that were not the first day of summer.

"I literally do not care," Had been her mom's annoying response as Wendy ranted off other possible dates to her. Of course Wendy's tirade of reasons not to have the reunion on the first day of summer just made her mom want to have it on the first day of summer even more. So here she was. Practically dying in her bed at ten in the morning, on the lovely first day of summer.

She gave a big sigh out of her nose and slowly crept out of her bed.

Maybe if I just stay up here for the whole day, they won't even notice I'm gone.

She walked slowly to her closet, grasped the handle of the closet door as she rubbed her eyes groggily, and opened it. She looked around and grabbed one of the few dresses she owned, a simple white dress with a small brown belt. She figured she'd probably have to dress some-what nice for this occasion. She quickly replaced the pajamas on her body, with the soft, blue dress. She took her brush and quickly brushed through her brown, mangly hair and then applied some chapstick on her lips, slipped on some black shoes, and she was on her way to the living room downstairs.

As Wendy went into the living room, a loud noise filled her ears. Her cousins, like always, had the television volume up way too high. Just the shrill of their squeals made Wendy want to turn back around and hide in her bedroom forever.

"Can you turn that down?"She yelled at her two little cousins, hoping they'd obey her. They quickly turned around, so they were sitting on the couch backwards.

"Wendy you're awake!" One of her cousins, Kayla, exclaimed as she jumped off of the couch to come and give Wendy a hug. She had no time to react before a tiny ball of black hair came barreling towards her at a speed unknown to man.

"Oomf," She said as Kayla pushed her whole body into Wendy and squeezed her arms around her as hard as she possibly could. It was only ten in the morning; Wendy was not ready for all the peppiness Kayla had to offer.

"Morning to you, too," Wendy smiled down at her. "I'll be back." Kayla nodded her head and let go, going back to watching the television. Wendy slowly walked into the kitchen and was met with six of her relatives. They all greeted her with big smiles and bright eyes. They were obviously far more awake than she was.

"You're awake!" Her mom smiled and walked toward Wendy. She was dressed in a causal black dress and her all-time favorite red heels. Her brown hair was done in a braid and she smiled at Wendy as if her mouth had been sewn that way. Wendy did not understand what kind of force would cause her mother to want to be that nicely dressed and that happy at ten in the morning. Wendy could hardly keep from yelling at people in the halls at school at ten in the morning, let alone wear heels and plaster a smile to her face.

"Yeah," Wendy mumbled in response and slightly waved to the group of people standing in front of her, "It's nice to see y'all!" She was immediately bombarded with hugs and questions: How have you been? Oh wow, you have grown. Do you have a boyfriend? And the dreaded: So, what are your plans for college?

She answered the questions as quickly as she could, bull crapping her way through most of the answers. She hardly knew these people, so why did they feel the need to ask a dozen questions? She was happy to her Gram, though. Her Gram was a nice, gift giving grandmother with snow-white hair and dark blue eyes. She used Victoria Secret perfume, which Wendy thought was hilarious and great —especially since that meant she didn't smell like moth balls— and her laugh was simply infectious. If Wendy had to choose someone to save, like ever, from anything, she'd choose her Gram—not that she'd tell people that.

As all the hugs and questions ended Wendy pulled her mom aside.

"Why are they here so early? I thought they weren't coming 'til like 11:30. I had to rush when I was getting ready, and you know how much I hate rushing, right?" She questioned her in a hushed tone, oblivious to the fact that she was being rude. Her mother clenched her jaw before giving her a quick scowl. So, she had definitely said the wrong thing.

"They got here early, I guess. Just be happy they weren't here at 7 am. There's only like ten more people coming. Calm down." She grasped Wendy's arm a minute, signaling it was the end of the discussion and then walked back to the group of people chatting away. Wendy's phone went off, notifying her that she got a message from her girlfriend. She quickly glanced at it, responding "yes" to her girlfriend asking if she wanted to sleep over.

Once she was done she shoved her phone back into the pocket of her dress. She looked up to find her grandmother staring intently at her.

"Oh hey," She awkwardly said as she reached over and hugged her Gram. She instantly smelled her Gram's perfume causing her to smile to herself.

"Hi Wendy! I brought something for you." She smiled as she lifted her arm up, handing Wendy a big book titled: Mystery Islands of the World. It was a relatively thick book and the spine had intricate designs on it. It looked like a fancy encyclopedia and that excited Wendy just a little bit.

"I know how much you've been into the whole mystery, Bigfoot, alien, Bermuda Triangle stuff, lately and I saw this book and I knew I had to get it for you!" She clasped her hands in excitement and looked at her with hope that she liked the book, which she did, but even if she didn't, she would tell her she did, because what type of person tells their grandmother they hate the gift?

"Thank you! I can't wait to read it!" Wendy hugged her again, and squealed with excitement. Her grandmother lit up with a smile, crinkling her dark brown eyes.

"You're welcome, dear." She patted her arm and was about to walk away when she turned back around and said in grandmother fashion, "Oh how is that boyfriend of yours." She gave a slight pause "Peter Pan?" Wendy immediately groaned. It was only ten in the morning and here they were already with the Peter Pan jokes. Anger quickly bubbled up, and Wendy had to bite her tongue hard. However, she did allow herself to glare hard.

"Oh you know I'm joking, tell your boyfriend, Mason," This time making sure she said the right name, "I said hello." Wendy gave her a slight, nervous smile and then she walked away, quickly, a feeling of dread and guilt weighing heavily in her stomach.

Ever since Wendy had realized she wasn't into guys as much as she was girls, she had decided to keep a tight lip on the new revelation. She wasn't sure how they would react, and despite knowing they probably wouldn't care, it was scary. Then, when she started dating her best friend, Sadie, she knew for a fact that she wasn't going to be able to gather the strength to tell people outside of her mother and father. So, since then, Wendy and her mother had come up with a fake guy with a fake story and ever since then, if her Gram asked, they lied to her and gave her the story. It was shitty of her, she knew it. She was weak and a coward, but she knew one day she would be able to do it. At the time, she was just happy she had accepting parents.

Wendy made her way into the living room, and busied herself around the rest of the house so she could avoid anymore conversations she did not want to have. If someone entered the room, she would leave and go into another room. It's not that she was anti-social or hated all her relatives, she just hated all their questions. Why did they all have to be so nosy?

Soon, it was time for lunch. As always, she had opted to sit at the "kid" table with all her cousins. Despite the fact that they were all much younger than her, she enjoyed talking and joking around with them. She also figured it would get her out of having talk to the other adults. However, she had no such luck when her mother decided to pipe up and say, "Oh, Wendy! You're nearly 18, don't you think it's time you sit at our table?"

No, she did not think it was time. It would never be time.

"Uh, I really would like to sit with Kayla and Carson and these guys. More fun," She finished lamely as she pressed further into her chair, hoping if she went far enough, she would forever be stuck to the chair and not have to leave.

Wendy's mother was clearly not having any of it. "You can talk to them after we eat, come sit with us." And after that, Wendy didn't have a choice, really. Not unless she wanted to cause a huge scene and have her mom pissed at her for the rest of eternity. So, begrudgingly she moved out of her chair and brought her plate over to the other table, sitting down next to one of her aunts. They all smiled at her, so she returned it quickly before shoving food into her mouth.

The lunch was going relatively fine, until, when they were nearly finished, her aunt turned to her and asked, "So, are you still with Mason?"

"Oh, she is!" Her gram smiled, nodding at Wendy.

"Yeah." Wendy chuckled nervously, eyeing her mother who looked just as nervous.

"So, when are we going to get to meet him?"

Wendy took a sip of water and wiped her mouth. Delaying the answer, as if she would think of some better one. "Uh, I don't know. I don't think you will."

"And why not?"

Ok, why did they feel obligated to know everything about her life. If she didn't want to tell them, she didn't have to. "I don't really want talk about it, Aunt Michelle."

"Oh," Aunt Michelle responded, possibly shocked, "Well, I guess I just don't understand. I mean, you've been dating him for what? Nearly two years and we've never met him, I just—"

During her longwinded speech Wendy's head whipped over to look at her mother, pleading for help. For something. "Michelle," Wendy's mother interrupted sharply. "It's a tough subject at the moment, please drop it."

Michelle's mouth opened and closed several times, nothing coming out. She still couldn't comprehend that her question was not being answered and that it was being met with such hostility. After a few seconds of silence she nodded minutely and went back to her food.

After they had eaten, and compliments were given and received, Wendy snuck away to her bedroom. She was done with socializing with them and with the way lunch went, she didn't think she could handle it one minute longer.

She smashed herself onto her bed and examined the book that her Gram had given to her. It had gold lettering and it was flaking off on the spine, showing that it was worn and most likely from an older shop. That just made it all the better! Giddily, she grasped the cover and opened it, revealing the table of contents. She skimmed it quickly to get a gist of the content and then she was turning pages quickly. On several pages were maps. Maps of America, maps of Africa; Maps of cities and villages, and maps of Oceans, drawn with the sea creatures and everything. Even better, she found that since the book was used it had messy notes in the margins explaining or writing interesting things about each map.

There were pictures of gorgeous flowers, bright and tall. There were pictures of Islands, pudgy, tall, and ones that didn't even look like Islands at all. Each one had a story about them, and some of them went into so much detail about myths and legends and whatever mysterious story, that it filled fifteen pages.

Wendy had planned to go back down to tell everyone goodbye, but she had forgotten once she was entranced with the history and fairy tales she was reading. She was so entranced at the idea that these were real. They were real places, real flowers, real everything. It felt like she was reading a fairy tale, but it was all based on truth's and it was amazing.


End file.
